RF gearhead = gearhead generally?

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Benjamin Marks

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I posed a question about Gretsch guitars in the OT portion of the RFF only to find that it didn't appear in the main "stack" of threads on the home page. So let me modify what I asked:

Do you think that RF enthusiasts who own [ahem] more than a few cameras are susceptible to gear mania generally? I am peripherally aware of communities whose members are (irrationally??) passionate about:

stereo equipment
autos and modifications thereof and so on.

So how about it? Is this mania for gear polymorphously perverse or single minded?

BTW, I do have my eye on I have my eye on a Gretsch G5120 Electromatic Hollow Body, which may soon force sale of some RF gear. Anyone want a Fuji 6x7II RF 120 camera with a 90/3.5 lens? It's a sweet camera, but you can't play a G-major chord on it.

Here's the ax that's keeping me from being productive at work.

http://gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5120

Advice? Hints? Anti-GAS suggestions?
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
Asbergers is pretty common.
Click to expand...

I have bi polar disorder and accumulate amazing quantities of gear, RF, TLR SLR and all sorts, I also have an obsession with tools, I managed to kick the habit of buying amplifiers and other stereo bits all the time but still cannot help collecting cameras.

I don't think the behaviour can be attributed to the disorder as such but it certainly helps to explain it.

//Jan
 
gear

gear

Gear collecting I feel (for me personally) is a trap. I once was the same way about deer hunting - I collected a great number of rifles - untill I figured out I was doing the same thing as I did with Nikons and got rid of them all but for one.
There is an undoubted collectors pleasure in the equipment side, I love a quality peice and an old interesting camera as much as anyone else (contax right?) but if I can paraphrase a famous hunting quote and apply it to photography:
It is a mistake to confuse that which is about photography with photography itself...
 
I am a pro audio gearhead in the extreme. Old mixers, tube microphone preamps, mics, guitars, amps, tape machines, etc. I buy stuff broken and cheap and replace all the busted parts...I've been doing this for about eight years. I posted this studio pic a while back, from my music website...you can see a lot of my crap:

http://www.inverseroom.com

I showed signs of going similarly overboard with camera gear but have pulled back from the edge. I believe I'm "done" with music gear, and perhaps camera gear too, though I'm sure I'll get a new lens every now and then.

I love old technology, mostly from the sixties and seventies. I love useful things that show evidence of having been designed. Tactile controls thrill me--manual focus cameras, modular synths, electric guitars and stompboxes, etc. RF stuff fits perfectly. Just touching the gear makes me want to go make some kind of art.
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
I would not have thought that bi polar would in itself point to obsessing about one type of camera equipment.
Click to expand...

No not at all, it does however quite often come bundled with obsessive behaviour of all descriptions, I rarely do things without taking it to extremes if you know what I mean, like I'll get one rangefinder camera and then go on buying more add ons more cameras more lenses and stuff before figuring out which ones I actually want/need then I will have a hard time parting with them. It can in some cases lead to a financial burden, I am fortunate enough to be fairly wealthy so I don't have massive debts by todays standards but I do have outstanding 0% creditcard deals which I manage with fairly good efficiency in order to feed my obsessive purchasing. I function very well with my condition and manage to keep it in check most of the time.

//Jan
 
For me, it is mechanical camera gear with RF gear as a subset, custom steel bike frames, classic bicycle parts, fountain pens, vintage model car kits, and mechanical watches. I am more interested in quality then quantity although that looks to be untrue with my RF gear-both are present. :<()

I abhor modern electronics (I have a tube amp amnd pre-amp stereo system) and am a reluctant computer user. I also love the design of objects, particularly from the 1950s and 1960s, and I am also a tactile person: holding the camera, adjusting the shutter speed and aperture, placing the needle on the lp, writing a letter with a fountain pen. Retro? Not at all: this is all I have ever known.
 
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I also have a thing for mechanical watches (pocket and wrist), fountain pens, books, cigars, absinthe, hats, mechanical typewriters - anything that has lots of accessories, an interesting history, or doo-dads associated is fair game. Motorcycles and cars are only out of the question because I have no garage.

I don't like to "collect" though. I shudder at the thought of items I have sitting on shelves. Everything must be in usable condition, and I do use them. If not, I like to restore them until I can use them.

Don't know if that answers your question or not.
 
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I prefer mechanical cameras and I have an affinity for fairing-less motorcycles where the mechanical bits are visible. Poor design bothers me if I can see how something could have been made better.

For another example, I find the mechanics of a flute almost beautiful.
 

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I find the lists on this thread interesting. It will probably surprise no one reading this thread that I too like the designed-ness of mechanical objects. I don't really think of myself as a collector in the sense that collector of stamps, comic books, coins or action figures wants a complete set of something for the joy of possessing it. But I do have an affinity for certain kinds of objects which have been mentioned above.

Mechanical watches - I only own one and I wear it every day.
Fountain pens - own several, none too expensive, which I use in rotation.
Mechanical cameras - Hassies, Rolleis, Leicas, Nikons of a certain age, Retinas, LF cameras come to mind. I own and use several of each of these.
Mechanical typewriters - don't own one currently, but have been on the lookout for a jewel-like travel typewriter from Olivetti with a chrome folding return-lever.
Old Hand tools - e.g. planes, drills, clamps etc.
Bicycles.
And so on.

My wife is not attached to anything comparable -- owning things makes her uneasy -- she prefers taking books out from libraries to owning, for instance. She is pretty tolerant of my interest in these things (e.g. we have more frying pans than absolutely necessary). Things that don't hold my interest:

cars, stereo equipment, i-poddy or cell-phony items, old computers and/or calculators, stamps and coins as mentioned, tractors, point-n-shoots (although temped by the new Panny LX-3), furniture as such, real estate and so on. I read with amusement the comments above about bi-polar and aspergers -- neither of these really describe me, but it is interesting that this was what first occurred to some posters.

So the Fuji 6x7 will go and the Electromatic will enter the house. And yeah, mabelsound, the Electromatic is one sweet guitar. The salesman at my local music store reports that he has 15 guitars of various styles at home. And he didn't crack any more of a smile when explaining the necessity for the number of instruments in his life than I do when explaining why I like to have an M3 and an M6 sitting on the shelf. Doesn't mean we aren't both mildly nuts, but it is interesting to see what signifies with folks here (a community more likely than some to find some resonance with this issue) as opposed to the world at large.

Bemusedly,

Ben Marks
 
Most of the things I buy are tools -- but as a writer and photographer, books and cameras are among the tools of my trade, and as an enthusiastic cook, I have a large and sometimes specialized batterie de cuisine (asparagus kettle? foie gras slicer?). Also, my house is part heated by wood, so I have half a dozen axes from the 19th and early 20th centuries (possibly also 18th but I doubt it). Each was hand-made by a different local blacksmith; all are different; and they cost me 2 to 10 euros each. I often find the heads only and make or buy hafts; I've just bought a seventh head with no haft.

To my amazement today, a friend's 9-year-old daughter REALLY got into chopping wood. Although she did best with the smallest and lightest of the axes, she really liked using the biggest and heaviest (which she could barely swing).

A pretty blonde with a penchant for chopping firewood may, in a few years, make some young man very happy. Or very nervous...

But to return to the gear-head aspect, no, as a general rule I prefer to have just one or two of whatever does the job, of the highest quality I can reasonably afford: one Omega watch, one Overbury's bicycle, etc. My wife is much the same but she does own (and use) four sewing machines, two Singers (1920s and 1950s), one Frister and Rossman (pre-Great War) and one all-singing, all-dancing Kenmore (1970s) that she uses fairly little.

Cheers,

R.
 
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